Shazam: First Year
by The Otherworlder
Summary: The wizard deemed Billy worthy, but the wizard is gone, and Billy is still clueless. How can he know the thunderbolt of Zeus is guarded by a horde of mythical monsters? Or that the Seal of Solomon unleashes demons and darkest magic? Captain Marvel's misadventures as he becomes acquainted with the powers and legacies he shoulders.
1. Zeus Astrapios 1

**Disclaimer: All recognizable properties belong to DC/WB. No profit is made.**

Continuity note: New 52 universe, and everyone except Captain Marvel is his/her New 52 iteration. Billy remains the ten-year old, pure, sweet but street-smart street rat from _Return of Black Adam_ animated short and _Superman/Shazam: First Thunder. _The wizard is still dead and gone after giving Billy power a la the animated film and New 52.

AN: This story slowly emerged in my head as I was writing _Sons_, a story where Billy Batson turned out to be the biological son of the Dark Knight. I was writing a ten-year old kid was was also an effective and powerful superhero, and again and again it struck me Billy must have had a mentor to guide him through Hero 101. Also, Captain Marvel is a magic-powered Superman; just exactly what can he do and how did he explore his powers? I mean Superman leraning to fly in any story is pretty awesome; Captain Marvel should have some of those moments too. I will have him learn other things instead how to fly though. I feel like his magic power really is underplayed in DCU, and this story tries to fix it in part. XD

This story will eventually feature the Justice League and the Bat family as Billy's life intercept theirs.

That's enough rant to start off the story, so that's it. Hope you enjoy!

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_**Zeus Astrapios: One**_

Billy thought he smelled apple crumble muffin.

He leapt out of bed and cheered; hurriedly throwing on some clothes, he rushed downstairs into the kitchen. Indeed, his father was just pulling open the oven door to reveal a tray of plump, golden, and steaming muffins.

"Holy moly, those smell even better than last time!" Billy exclaimed.

"Why, that's impossible," C. C. Batson, Egyptologist con baker extraordinaire, said in a mock serious voice, "My apple crumble muffins are _perfect_. It can't get better; it can only smell as _perfect _as those from last time."

"I want one!"

"They are still really hot right now; why don't you go open your Christmas presents?" C. C. Batson cajoled his son, "You will love what your mom got you."

"Right, Christmas presents!"

Billy dashed into the living room and started unwrapping his presents. His cries of "Wow, _Harry Potter _book", "Another puzzle, cool" and "Holy moly, _Superman_ action figure!" filled the entire house. A few minutes later he dashed back into the kitchen, shouting, "Thanks dad thanks a bunch! Now can I have the muffin?"

C. C. Batson laughed and held the muffin in front of Billy's face. The boy took a humongous bite, but strangely he didn't taste anything. Eh? But this was his father's _best_ recipe! What happened, why couldn't he taste it? Then he heard someone call, "Billy, Billy… William Joseph Batson!"

Billy's head snapped up and he found himself sitting inside the classroom, staring up at the face of his math teacher. He fell asleep in class? Ah, right, no wonder he couldn't taste the muffin; they say you can't taste anything in dreams. His parents had passed away three years ago; he will never taste dad's apple crumble muffins again, neither in reality nor in dreams.

"Billy, you are drooling," The math teacher, Ms. Glaukos said quietly.

The entire class burst into laughter, while Billy wiped his face with his dirty sleeves furiously, blushing beet red. Ms. Glaukos held his hand gently but firmly but said, "Billy, I know you generally do well in math class, but I would prefer if you do not sleep here. Go stand in the hall; I will come and speak with you."

Billy stood up from his seat and walked out the classroom shamefaced. He stood in the corridor, head bowed, and feeling extremely down. Math was his favorite subject, for it was the only subject he could do well in. English and social studies and science all required time and books that he did not have. Ms. Glaukos was also his favorite teacher. Why must he fall asleep in Ms. Glaukos's class of all classes! Not that he should fall asleep in class at all…

Just then the door swung open and Ms. Glaukos stepped out into the hallway. Billy snuck a quick look at her and then hung his head in shame.

"Hey Billy, it's alright," Ms. Glaukos said in a soft voice and knelt in front of the boy. She took a handkerchief from her pocket and gently wiped clean Billy's face, and then pushed a bottle into his hand. "Here, have some cold juice; it will wake you right up."

"Thank you so much, Ms. Glaukos!" Billy twisted open the bottle and downed the entire bottle of orange juice in two gulps. He had only eaten a slice of bread all day long and was growing light-headed, the juice was just god-sent!

"Billy, you look really tired," Ms. Glaukos continued, "When did you go to bed last night? Is everything alright at home?"

Billy blinked and raised his head slowly, finally looking at Ms. Glaukos directly. Something in her grey eyes made his heart skip. Ms. Glaukos was an extraordinarily beautiful woman; her face was like those of classical sculptures, much more awe-inspiring than even the flashiest Hollywood star. She was kind, but despite her small frame she was authoritative too. Even the ten-year old brats in her class understood the point well and were always more respectful to her than to most other teachers. Billy had always liked her, but now he seemed to register something else in her dark hair and her perfect face, something powerful, something familiar, almost like _family_.

"Well, Billy?" Ms. Glaukos asked again.

"Er, yeah, I was watching TV and didn't sleep until too late," Billy came up with the most plausible sounding lie hurriedly, "I am sorry, Ms. Glaukos! I will never do it again, I won't fall asleep in class anymore, I promise!"

Billy didn't like lying, but it wasn't as if he could tell the truth. How would "well I turned into a mystical champion of the gods and helped put out the humongous fire downtown" sound? Totally nutcase. Anyway, this _superhero_ thing will get better, right? It's not like there would be huge fires every night, and maybe he would get better at it too. Captain Marvel was supposed to have the stamina of Atlas; he wasn't supposed to get tired just because he didn't sleep any last night.

Ms. Glaukos regarded him quietly for a few seconds, long enough for Billy to get nervous, before she changed the subject, saying, "Your home room teacher told me that you didn't bring the field trip permission form? Are you sure about it? If the fee is an issue, you know we have support programs at the school, so you shouldn't worry about that. Would you like me to call your uncle? Perhaps I can convince him to let you attend the field trip."

"No, don't call Uncle Ebenezer!" Billy blurted out.

The seeing Ms. Glaukos's steady questioning gaze Billy blushed again. He said with discomfort, "I mean, the money isn't the issue; Uncle Ebenezer doesn't want me to see the museum stuff for umm, religious reasons. That's right, he said it's not a good idea, being bad to God, that kind of stuff."

Hopefully that was enough to put Ms. Glaukos off his track? People generally stop asking questions altogether once he said things like "religious reasons". Billy really didn't need anyone calling Uncle Ebenezer. He was out of his uncle's house for nearly two years now, and he was doing just fine on his own. He didn't need to be stuffed back into his uncle's home, where only more misery awaited. Ms. Glaukos, however, did not stop asking questions, only asked one of a different sort, "So what do you plan to do tomorrow?"

Billy shrugged and said, "I dunno, stay home and watch TV?"

This turned out to be not so far from the truth after all.

The next morning, while Billy's classmates enjoyed their trip to the museum, Billy holed up in one of his hideouts at an abandoned subway station. He had a successful early morning run collecting bottles, enough to afford himself some nice food from McDonald, so now he enjoyed a breakfast sandwich while listening to radio. Alright, it wasn't quite a TV, but close enough. When his favorite song ended and gave way to advertisement, Billy tuned in to the news station, just in time to hear the latest villainy befallen Fawcett City.

"…the hostage situation at Fawcett Museum of Natural History made a breakthrough, though perhaps not the happy ending the city was anxious to see," The female announcer's voice floated from the radio, "Fawcett PD had finally agreed to release the mob boss Trenton McGregor and supply a helicopter as demanded. So far the fifty-seven children have all been released and accounted for, but the perps still hold a hostage: twenty-seven year old school teacher Areia Glaukos…"

Billy shot up. A second later Captain Marvel appeared at the Fawcett Natural History Museum, flying high above the grand museum building. It seemed he had arrived just in time, for a helicopter was lifting off from the roof of the museum, ready to be spirited away. Captain Marvel flew up and a quicker look proved his intuition right; the helicopter was occupied by five men in ski masks and one black-haired woman. It was Ms. Glaukos!

Before anyone could react Captain Marvel ripped the door from the helicopter. The sudden force would have sent the aircraft careening off course, but Captain Marvel steadied it with his hand. "Where do you guys think you are going?" He said in a voice both pleasant and threatening.

The men inside the helicopter were screaming at him, and one of them jammed the gun to Ms. Glaukos's head menacingly. Captain Marvel froze for a moment; seeing someone close and familiar in grave danger could put a damper even on the famed Wisdom of Solomon.

"Get the hell out of our way!" Someone screamed at him from within the helicopter, "Get out of our way or we blast this woman's brain to pieces!"

What to do? His strength and invulnerability would not help here, any attack on the helicopter or the people inside could easily startle the villain and the gun could go off. Would the speed of Mercury be fast enough to take away the offending gun before human reaction time could kick in? It wouldn't be a problem otherwise, but this time he had to get inside a helicopter that was still hovering in midair. Though if he was right at the door of the aircraft, it seemed he could reach…

And the next thing everyone knew Captain Marvel was holding half a dozen firearms in his hands. He gave the men inside the helicopter a mocking but still severe look, before tossing the guns to the roof of the museum. Even with the ski masks he could tell the criminals were staring at him with slack jaws.

"Ready to ground the helicopter and turn yourselves in?" Captain Marvel asked.

No one spoke, but someone suddenly kicked open the door on the _other_ side of the helicopter and promptly tossed Ms. Glaukos out of the aircraft. There was a brief exclamation, and then the poor school teacher disappeared from view. Captain Marvel realized the villain's plan as soon as the other door on the helicopter popped open, but he simply could not stop it fast enough, with half a dozen bodies in a cramped helicopter between him and where Ms. Glaukos went free fall.

Captain Marvel dove after her, cursing his own stupidity all the while. He stopped fifty feet below Ms. Glaukos's falling form and was ready to catch her in his arms when she screamed at him, "Don't you _dare_ catch me!"

Captain Marvel blinked, and in that second Ms. Glaukos fell past him again. He chased after her, now flying beside her free-falling form. "But Ms. Glaukos!..."

The dark-haired woman extended a hand and said, "Take my hand, please, but keep flying; don't stop suddenly!"

Captain Marvel took the Ms. Glaukos's hand. Her grip was strong, like a drowning man's hold omn a floating plank. She pulled himself close to him and wrapped both of her arms around his shoulder tightly. "Hold me, hero, now is not a good time to zone out," She said drily, "Slow down and stop our descend; just remember to do it slowly. We have another three hundred feet or so to go."

Once they touched down both breathed a sigh of relief. Ms. Glaukos took a small step away from Captain Marvel, took a moment to compose herself, before saying, "My most heartfelt gratitude, hero…" Here she gave him a charming smile and continued, "Sorry, I wasn't following the news lately, so I don't know your name. I am afraid I might have to continue calling you 'hero' unless you tell me your name."

"You can call me Captain Marvel."

"Right, Captain Marvel; thank you very much for everything. And I apologize for being perhaps a little difficult, but have you never caught falling people before?"

Captain Marvel blushed a little and he said, "Sorry ma'am, I am new to this. I now see my mistake; catching you when you are falling so fast would be no different from you hitting the ground. I am terribly sorry! If it weren't for your shouting I would have killed you just like the villains." Here the mighty hero hung his head, feeling rather unsure of himself. Indeed, a ten-year old should hardly be a superhero, or a champion of the gods! Even the Wisdom of Solomon could not turn him into a wise, mature adult, and his inexperience might end up hurting people instead of helping.

"Now, now, Captain Marvel," Ms. Glaukos said in that patient but firm way of hers, "If it weren't for you I would have a bullet in my head, or turned into a splat on the pavement. Do not question my sincerity in thanking you. And self-deprecation does not become a hero. You are a hero this city and even this world need; you yourself should certainly believe that first."

Captain Marvel blushed again and he scratched his head. "Umm, thanks! So are the kids all okay? I heard on the radio they are released; is everyone fine? Is there something I can help with? And should I take you to the hospital?"

"The last I heard the children are all fine, and are you sure you don't want to go after them?" Ms. Glaukos was pointing to the sky, where the helicopter was becoming a small black dot.

"Right, of course!" Captain Marvel took off into the hair, still waving at his math teacher, "I will see you again sometime, Ms. Glaukos!"

As Captain Marvel's red-clad form faded from view, an enigmatic smile lit up Ms. Glaukos's face. Her grey eyes were flashing like stars in the night sky, and her face seemed to glow with some esoteric light. If Captain Marvel were here to see it, he would certainly find this face familiar, never before seen yet always known.

"Indeed I will be seeing you, champion," Ms. Glaukos murmured.


	2. Zeus Astrapios 2

**AN: Thank you all for the lovely reviews! Sorry about the really slow chapter 2 but here it is. More of Billy and his Mentor, hope you enjoy!**

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Minutes after Billy had dropped off the last newspaper the rain was coming down in buckets. Thunder rolled overhead like the roars of an enraged deity, relentless and terrifying. Billy breathed a sigh of resignation, shuffled on his feet, and drew in a large gulp of air. Like a swimmer jumping into a long dive the young boy dashed off into the rain, sprinting and splashing for a good five minutes, before coming to a stop in small, barely-dry patch in front of an already closed store, panting and shaking like a puppy. Getting wet was not even an issue anymore, he was already soaked through and through, but the rain drops actually hurt, and the wind whipped around like a thousand blades. The thought of running for another thirty minutes or so through this mess in order to get to his sleeping place tonight was a despairing one.

Billy's last stop was at a covered bus stop at the edge of Fawcett City Central Park. His hideout was just on the other side of the park, another fifteen minutes splashing through grassy hills and wood groves and he would be home—or as close to "home" as it would get for him. He wrung out his clothes and hair as best as he may, before dashing out into the park. He only took a few steps in the sodden grass before he felt a hand grasping the back of his collar and dragging him away from the park forcefully.

"What do you think you are _doing_, Billy?"

Billy spun around and saw Ms. Glaukos standing there, looking like a drowned cat but still quite imposing with that fierce and severe expression on her face. "What is wrong with you, running for the trees with thunder and lightning overhead?" Ms. Glaukos sounded almost exasperated, "And for that matter, why are you _outside_ at this hour? Surely your family heard the storm warnings everywhere and knew better!"

"I… I just wanted to cut across, I am almost…" The boy's teeth were chattering, which was well, actually; he didn't have a chance to divulge that he was going "home" to a park building.

Ms. Glaukos sighed, "Come with me, my car is right over there; I will take you wherever you want to go."

Ms. Glaukos obviously expected him to get in, but Billy was eyeing the car with ample uncertainty. The leather seats and plush carpet looked really clean and nice, and expensive, in fact. "Umm, I am soaked and kinda muddy," He mumbled with a red face, "I will get the seat wet."

"Don't be ridiculous; get in now and strap down."

Once they were both inside the car Ms. Glaukos turned the heat to max and pressed a paper cup into Billy's hand. "I got hot chocolate just now and haven't touched it, so go ahead, drink up," Ms. Glaukos said, "Where do you live? I will take you home."

"Where do I live?" Billy blinked a few times at his math teacher before he started rambling, trying (but probably failing) at hiding his panic, "I live with my uncle, yeah. But… But I can't quite go back there right now. He is not home; he is still working. You know he is a really busy man. I was supposed to wait out the storm at a friend's place, but something came up at his place so I couldn't stay, and I was just going to wait at the park house until my uncle come and pick me up…"

Ms. Glaukos gave the small boy a long look but she did not speak. She only turned the key in the ignition and pulled the car away from its parked spot, driving through the blinding rain. It wasn't until the car stopped at an intersection light did she ask, "Is there anything you would like to tell me, Billy?"

"Er, what do you mean? I don't have any school-related question."

Actually Billy knew perfectly well why Ms. Glaukos was worried, but he _really_ did not want to deal with family service again. Every time they forced him back to Uncle Ebenezer's house life just became even more miserable. And he must live alone now; he was Captain Marvel and he had responsibilities, and Uncle Ebenezer would just get in his way or try to take advantage of him.

Ms. Glaukos did not press the point, she only said, "Well then, why don't you come to my place and have a bite to eat while you wait for your uncle to come home?"

Billy's eyes brightened and he nodded rather eagerly. He could really use a good meal right now. At Ms. Glaukos's house Billy was told to take a quick shower while she cooked, and by the time he came out of the bathroom dressed in oversized but clean clothes, warmer and happier than he had felt in days, a sumptuous feast was already waiting for him at the table. Better not get used to this, Billy warned himself even as he dug into his foods with high spirits.

Over the steam of the soup Ms. Glaukos suddenly asked, voice kind but stern, "Has anyone ever talked to you about precautions during a thunder storm, Billy? You have no idea how dangerous a thing you did, dashing off into the park like that, have you?"

"Really?" Billy was genuinely surprised. He understood that running around during a thunder storm was probably a bad idea, but why was the park especially bad?

"That park is large and full of very tall trees, and all the open grounds are hill tops," Ms. Glaukos explained, "Almost every inch of the park is prime target for lightning strike."

"But lightning wouldn't…" Billy stopped himself and thought about it. He almost said "lightning wouldn't hurt me", but surely that is a strange thing to say. Instead he asked, "How come? Why are tall trees and hill tops especially dangerous?"

Ms. Glaukos eyed him with a laugh, "Why, you won't take my word for it? The short answer is, lightning travel from the clouds to the ground in the path of least resistance, so it often hits tall trees or high ground. If you stand under a tall tree or on a hill, you are much more likely to be struck by lightning."

"Really? I never knew that!" Billy was intrigued, "What does 'path of least resistance' mean? And what is lightning anyway, how does it go from the sky to the ground?"

"Lightning is basically electricity made in the clouds…"

"But then how does it come down from the sky? There are no wires!"

At this Ms. Glaukos laughed again and said, "My, aren't you an eager science student. I think you can find answers to all those questions in a ninth grade science textbook. Do you think you can wait until you hit high school?"

Billy blushed and mumbled, "Sorry, I was just curious. I think lightning is cool."

Ms. Glaukos put down her soup spoon and said, "There is nothing to apologize for, Billy, and I don't mean to put you off. It's great to be curious, and if you are really up for a difficult class in physics I would love to explain everything to you." She paused, gave the boy a wink that almost looked conspiratorial, and whispered, "I think lightning is cool too; it's my secret weapon."

Billy laughed as well, nearly dropping a forkful of lasagna.

"Alright, my boy," Ms. Glaukos looked at his dinner plate pointedly, "We can have a science class _after _finishing dinner, maybe alongside the dessert."

Ms. Glaukos was indeed true to her words. They had a most entertaining science class session about electrons, electricity and lightning, aided by pictures and diagrams, a Van der Graaf generator and lots of little electronic gadgets, including a rail-gun that could shoot pennies at an amazing speed. Billy even forgot the excellent chocolate cakes they were having for dessert; he was too busy looking at pictures and playing with various gadgets.

"How did people ever think of something like this?" The little boy exclaimed while shooting pennies again and again with the rail-gun, "And it's so cool you have all these gadgets, Ms. Glaukos."

"Well, a teacher must be prepared to teach," She replied with a small smile.

Billy couldn't remember how long they spent discussing science and playing with gadgets, and he certainly didn't remember how he fell asleep. When he woke up he was quite disoriented, blinking rapidly for a long time in the darkness. Eventually he remembered that he was in Ms. Glaukos's house, having dinner and then getting a science lesson, but apparently he went to bed without brushing his teeth. He stumbled out of bed, turned on the ceiling light and looked around. He seemed to be sleeping in what looked like the guest bedroom.

Would it be a good idea to try to sneak out and patrol the city as Captain Marvel?

He really should be patrolling, but what if Ms. Glaukos checks on him? He didn't want to scare her by disappearing off into the night. Billy pondered for a moment and decided to go watch some TV first. The local channel has twenty-four hour coverage and is usually quick to report any local emergencies. Captain Marvel would only go out if Fawcett needs him tonight.

He pushed open the door and padded out noiselessly. Once inside the living room, he saw to his great surprise that the TV was already turned on to the local channel, which was showing a pre-recorded program about City Council budget plan. Ms. Glaukos was lying on the couch in front of the TV but she was not watching it. She seemed fast asleep, with a blanket draped over her, a book still in hand, and the sound of the TV did not seem to bother her.

Very quietly, Billy sat down on the floor and watched random weather reports and news alerts rolling across the bottom of the TV screen. Nothing of importance seemed to be going on, only weather reports and uninteresting news rolled by, not even a mention of a car accident. Just as Billy was getting ready to go back to sleep, he suddenly saw a line rolling by that read: _Emergency at downtown Fawcett City; police perimeter set up_.

Billy promptly returned to his position and stared at the screen.

The boring charts on the TV screen were replaced by the local news reporter.

"Breaking news from downtown Fawcett City!" The reporter shrilled, her voice much higher and louder than the droning before.

Startled, Billy looked at Ms. Glaukos, who thankfully still did not wake up.

"Enormous unknown humanoid creatures have appeared in the financial district. We are talking about creatures thirty, forty, feet tall, maybe taller still! They are wandering around the block, seemingly in search of something; there is a trail of destroyed vehicles and damaged buildings in their wake. Police are already on the scene, but conventional weapons seem to be doing absolutely nothing against these creatures! What are these things, and where are they from? This is Fawcett City after all, not Metropolis or Gotham! We have not been visited by aliens and magical creatures before. Is this a challenge to the new superhero in town, or something more? Wait, we have a connection with our reporters and cameramen at the scene; maybe even a shot or two…"

The screen flashed and suddenly cut to a scene of the towering skyscrapers in downtown Fawcett City. Indeed he saw three gigantic creatures on screen, the smallest among them was still at least fifteen stories tall. Those creatures walked on two feet, wore animal skins and wielded large clubs. Strangely, all of them had only one eye on their faces.

"Holy moley," Billy whispered.

There was no more hesitation after that. Billy raced outside to the backyard as quietly as possible, and only a moment later a bright red streak shot up into the sky. This is a job for Captain Marvel!


End file.
